Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Other Items

Elsewhere in Iraq, the U.S. military announced the deaths of two Marines and a sailor during fighting Sunday in Anbar province, a western redoubt of the Sunni insurgency. The U.S. military also announced the death of a service member Monday in Baghdad when his vehicle was struck by a bomb. No details were available.Interior Ministry officials said 20 people were killed Monday in incidents in and around Baghdad. And the casualty toll from attacks by Sunni insurgents on Shiite pilgrims marching Sunday in Baghdad increased to 25 dead and nearly 400 wounded, according to a Health Ministry spokesman.At a meeting with reporters in Baghdad, a top U.S. military official said U.S.-led forces would turn over command of an entire Iraqi army division for the first time on Sept. 3. U.S. troops, though, will continue to handle logistics for the division, the Kut-based 8th, said the official, Brig. Gen. Dan Pittard, commander of the Iraqi Assistance Group, which advises Iraqi security forces.

The above is from Amit R. Paley's "As Genocide Trial Begins, Hussein Is Again Defiant" (Washington Post). Martha and Brad both noted it and Brad notes the fact that Paley "did update Sunday's death toll, something I'm not seeing in the Times." Not seeing it either, don't believe it's there.

"Boy Killed by U.S. Troops" by The New York Times American soldiers accidentally killed a 10-year-old boy on Sunday in Kirkuk after firing at a driver who ignored warnings to stop, the military said Monday.North of the capital, an American soldier was killed Monday when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb, the military said. Three members of a Marine unit died from “enemy action” in Anbar Province on Sunday, the military said.In southwestern Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on an Iraqi army convoy near a mosque, killing three soldiers and wounding another, an Interior Ministry official said.

For the record, the 10-year-old wasn't in the car. Supposedly the bullet richocheted and struck him or that was yesterday's official story.

When news surfaced that four GIs allegedly stalked, gang-raped and killed an Iraqi woman, the US tried to minimise this latest atrocity. Now article 32 hearings -- the military equivalent of a grand jury -- have ended at Camp Liberty, a US base in Iraq. In September, a general will rule whether the accused should be court-martialled. The defence already pleads post-traumatic stress disorder: in four months preceding the crime, 17 of the accused GIs' battalion were killed.The victim's name was Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi. Abeer means "fragrance of flowers". She was 14 years old. According to a statement by one of the accused, the soldiers first noticed her at a checkpoint. On March 12, after playing cards while slugging whisky, they changed into civvies and burst into Abeer's home. They killed her mother, father and five-year-old sister and "took turns" raping Abeer. Finally, according to the statement, they murdered her, drenched the bodies with kerosene, and set them on fire. Then the GIs grilled chicken wings.

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
This also applies to anyone writing to complain about a friend of mine. That's not why the public account exists.